Blue Water Yachts Full Enclosure for the 26X

[darrenj]

Does anyone have a picture of the Blue Water Yachts full enclosure for the 26X?

I am finally in the market and the price seems reasonable compared to the quotes I have gotten for a custom built one. The only problem is I can't find any pictures.

Thanks.

[Tomfoolery]

I don't, but Dowsar Marine makes a full enclosure, which my boat had when I bought it used. They're an advertiser here, too, or at least listed in the dealer section.



My boat, when it was first listed for sale.

[darrenj]

I like the Dowser but it costs $5000+ while the BWY enclosure is $2600 so I want to get a look at it.

[taime1]

I like the Dowser but it costs $5000+ while the BWY enclosure is $2600 so I want to get a look at it.

You may want to call or email BWY because their website states "from $2648". I've had nothing but great service and excellent products from BWY and would recommend them anytime - they may send you a photo by email as well, they did when I purchased their cockpit table.

My only experience with Dowsar was when I considered purchasing their more expensive cockpit table last fall (still listed at $449), they let me know the price is actuallly $749 for the table. Needless to say, I went with BWY.

[Chinook]

We have had the BWY enclosure for 9 years, and love it. It's like adding a room onto the house, when rainy weather arrives. I don't have a picture handy. It's designed to go with the stock bimini, and the wide dodger, which extends outside the winches. A connecting panel zips to both bimini and dodger, and the side and rear curtains then zip to the continuous overhead covering. The main difference between the Dowser and the BWY surround involves head clearance. The Dowser uses a taller bimini, which allows full head clearance for standing at the wheel. It does this by rising behind the end of the boom. The BWY surround stays at nearly the same height all the way back. This means that you can't stand at the wheel without bending your neck down when the Bimini is up.

[trdprotruck]

The other part of the Dowsar enclosure that is different is the dodger wings. The wings extend down the side of the cockpit where passengers will be protected from any spray. I don't see this justifying the price though....

[darrenj]

I contacted BWY today and the price has actually come down by $30 or so.
I did not ask about pictures when I had them on the phone but I just now sent an email asking if any pics are available.

Chinook, does the back stay on the BWY enclosure pass behind the Bimimi or does it go through the Bimini?

Thanks

[vitger]

It passes behind. I love mine.
Here are a couple pictures of my setup of the BWY kind, not great but you may find them useful:

[darrenj]

Thanks that helps.

One thing I am considering is asking to have the dodger frame upgraded to stainless and then adding some grab handles to make moving forward from the cockpit easier\safer.

This is based on personal experience moving forward and suggestions from some other people.

[Chinook]

Yes, the backstay does go behind the bimini. On ours and others I have looked at, the bimini rubs against the backstay when it gets laid down. The abrasion caused by the aluminum tubing inside its sleeve, rubbing against the backstay cable, caused fraying of the sunbrella fabric. We ended up having to sew a sunbrella patch over the frayed area, which reinforced things. I've added a plastic tube over the backstay, which reduces the abrasion. I try to remember to push the backstay out a bit when lowering the bimini. I've seen other biminis on 26X boats with this same fraying problem. I think it's unavoidable, given the configuration of the tube framework and the position of the backstay. You might ask BWY to have the fabricator sew a sunbrella or other material in the corner where it rubs the backstay.

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

That seems like good advice on the backstay chafe panel. Does the enclosure come in other sunbrella colors? And what about screen panels, in your pics, they look like clear vinyl...does it also comes with screens or does that cost extra or is it unvailable?

[Terry]

My only experience with Dowsar was when I considered purchasing their more expensive cockpit table last fall (still listed at $449), they let me know the price is actuallly $749 for the table. Needless to say, I went with BWY.

I have an old word document I created sometime ago, maybe 2008 or so, with all the mods and accessories I was planning for. The price for the Dowsar table is still there at $189.99 so it has gone up substantially over the years. The 26M dodger was listed at $1689.99 back then, the price for that is still in the old word document too!
The one upside to the Dowsar is they use all SS tubing and fittings. IIRC I paid $699.00 for the Dowsar bimini and it is all SS tubing.

[seahouse]

Darrenj -
If you think you might consider adding stern rail seats in the future, be aware that the full enclosure you add now will not be usable with them.

If you are thinking about it- get the stern rail seats first, then the full enclosure - that will also add considerably to the usefull space in the cockpit both with and without the enclosure up.

Took a bit of planning to make sure options I went with, or went without, would not prevent me from making other additions in the future.

I have not seen the BWY full enclosure up close for comparison, but when I ordered the Dowsar enclosure, I was quite satisfied that the quality of construction (stainless tubing diameter, hardware, reinforced points of wear, strength of the framework, overlapping for storm-tightness, zip-open windows with screens for cooling) was going to leave little room for improvement, and that was the case upon delivery. I should add that I have returned the connecting cover to have pleats added this winter because it did hang a bit loose for my taste, which they are happily fixing.

- Brian.

[Chinook]

That seems like good advice on the backstay chafe panel. Does the enclosure come in other sunbrella colors? And what about screen panels, in your pics, they look like clear vinyl...does it also comes with screens or does that cost extra or is it unvailable?
That seems like good advice on the backstay chafe panel. Does the enclosure come in other sunbrella colors? And what about screen panels, in your pics, they look like clear vinyl...does it also comes with screens or does that cost extra or is it unvailable?

I just spoke with the guy who makes the surrounds for BWY, since I'm having him do some custom work on my dodger. (I'm having him install zippers which will let me attach a 50 watt flexible solar panel to the top of the dodger - I'll post photos when it's done). Ed was interested in my comment about the chafe problem, and said he'd look over some X's at this year's BWY Rendezvous, so he can add a patch of leather at the chafe location in future biminis he makes for X's. Regarding bug screens, the BWY surround doesn't incorporate bug netting. We made our own, using No-See-Um netting. The bug net velcros to the back of the dodger and goes over the bimini. It snaps down using the snaps for the surround. When we're in buggy places, we put it in place, without using the side curtains, and it works great. As far as colors go, I haven't actually asked, but I would imagine Ed could make one in any color that sunbrella cloth is available in.

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

Thanks for the info Chinook, we live and die by our bug screens down in these parts Seems like making a couple extra side panels with bug screen instead of vinyl might be a good option for Ed to consider. Your mod sounds very functional though. I have been toying around with having a local canvas shop make a full enclosure for many years, but now the guy who owned the shop I had been speaking with has retired.